Four years of Co-creation with stakeholders: What did we learn about its added value in Urban Planning? Insights from CLEVER Cities Milan three Urban Living Labs.

Since 2018, the Horizon 2020 project CLEVER Cities has been promoting an inclusive co-creation pathway in order to support urban greening regeneration strategies towards a more participatory approach and the achievement of shared governance routines in local decision-making processes. Throughout the development of the methodological framework of the project, a special attention was given to social inclusivity and engagement of different stakeholders: public and local governments, the private sector, academia, and citizens. Supported by the four years long evidence-based experience from the Milanese urban context and three different Urban Living Labs (ULLs), this research article develops a further understanding for the shared governance processes within co-creation processes with consideration to citizen participation and its collateral added values in urban planning methods and practice. The project since its’ initiation has also proven multiple added values in adopting Nature-based Solutions (NBS) within public participation processes and raising awareness about their evident environmental benefits as well as collaborative governance, spatial and financial challenges. Based on a social monitoring methodology during the pre-greening phase, an in-depth understanding is further elaborated about the shared governance mechanisms and mainstreaming challenges of adopting NBS in the areas of interventions. Through an ex-ante verification of NBS ownership, stakeholder engagement, challenges of mainstreaming NBS co-creation in urban planning policies, this article sheds the light on the co-creation pathways added values in medium-long term urban regeneration processes.